The Davis man who cycled up Haleakala once but down twice

We're in Maui celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.

We're here to celebrate 25 years of marriage! Just about half our lives married and more than half together.

Sandy just celebrated her 51rst birthday. I will be celebrating mine in a few weeks. You could say we're "51-50" in love with each other. "51-50" is police code for a crazy person.

Among other things, throughout or marriage Sandy has supported and at times I'm sure she's felt like she's had to put up with all my cycling. Even while we are here to celebrate our 25th anniversary, we spent one whole day apart while I went off on yet another cycling adventure; to climb Haleakala. A recent article in Bicycling magazine says it's the longest paved road climb in the world. Some of the locals I met while doing it think that is worthy of a "51-50."

Here I am at the top. Big smile 'cause all the climbing is done. Do I look crazy?

The following day, I climbed Haleakala a second time…in a bus with Sandy and several other people to watch the sunrise.

On top of the (Maui) world with my best friend in the world, my wife!

Then, we all got on single speed cruisers and coasted down Haleakala together, a common tourist activity.

That's Sandy in the green jacket looking back at me

Climbing Haleakala was a challenge. Except for some problems with the rental bike, the climb and descent was both spectacular and uneventful. The second descent on coaster bikes with Sandy and a group of other riders, some of whom hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years, was much scarier!

Haleakala Facts

"Haleakala" means "house of the sun." It is a dormant volcano on the island of Maui, Hawaii. It last erupted sometime in the middle of the last millenium. Weather at the summit can be highly variable. It's not unheard of to start in 90+ degree temps at the base and summit at near freezing temps with wind and rain. Typically, for every 1,000 feet in elevation gain, the temperature drops 3-5 degrees. Maui Cycling hosts a race up Haleakala called the "Cycle to the Sun." Ryder Hesjedal holds the record at around 2.5 hours.

The route starts at Paia Bay on Baldwin road. After going 6 miles up Baldwin-Olivia Rd. you make a right on Hanamu Rd. until it intersects with a left turn onto 377. A few miles later, a left turn onto 378 takes you all the way to the summit. Once you turn onto 378, there isn't much in the way of civilization except for two Haleakala Park visitor centers. No water stops. No food. No shelter.

It is 36 miles from the base, at sea level, to the summit at 10,000 feet. There are only a few short sections of negative gradient  during the whole climb. Below 7,000 feet, the gradient is a pretty constant 5-6%. There is about a 200 meter section on Baldwin road just after crossing over 366 in Makawao that's around 8-9%. Once you pass into the park entrance, the gradient lessens a bit to 4-5%. The last quarter mile has a couple of sections less than 100 meters of 8-9%. The main challenge of the climb is that it simply never, never, never stops rising ahead of you.

Haleakala elevation profile from my Garmin 405. It ran out of batteries half-way down.

The climb is nicely divided into three pieces by two decent places to stop and rest. One is the Kula Market place at about 12 miles and 3,500 feet. There are public restrooms. There is a great selection of food and fluids. The other stop is the lower visitor's center just after entering Haleakala National Park at about 25 miles and 7,200 feet. There are public restrooms there as well and drinking fountains to refill bottles. If the center is open, you can purchase from a limited selection of small snacks. There is another visitor's center just below the summit with public restrooms. The park ranger told me the sink water there is potable.

Except for the first several miles on Bladwin road, the road surface is excellent. There is even a decent shoulder until you enter the park at 7,000 feet. On the route I took, there are four cattle guards. They are fine but something to remember when you are descending at 35+ mph.

Haleakala is a tourist attraction much as the rest of Maui. So, there are a lot of motorists with little to no experience sharing a narrow road with cyclists. But, I think that means motorists wind up being much safer than a typical northern California driver might be. I didn't have any issues with motorists and plenty of vehicles passed me. There are signs all along the route reminding motorists that bikes "share the road." I felt very safe on both the ascent and descent.

You should carry two water bottles, some food and extra layers to put on for the first several thousand feet of descent. A rain shell would be a good idea too. The day before I was there a couple of riders got hypothermia while descending and had to be bused back down.

The terrain varies dramatically all the way up. At the base, the land is rural agriculture with some light residential. It's hot and humid and not much in the way of shade trees. Winds are nonexistent or light. At about 2,500 feet, it's rain forest; lots of big trees with plenty of shade. Between 2,500 and 5,000 there can be clouds and fog. Even if its not raining, there is so much humidity water condenses out on the trees and drips almost as if it might as well be raining. There is a very abrupt change from rain forest to native grasses and no trees. Eventually, the grasses give way to red volcanic rock and small shrubs. Above about 9,000 feet, all you see is black volcanic rock likened to being on Mars.

Finally, there is a $5 fee at the park entrance, 24 miles and 7,000 feet into the ride. So, be sure to carry some cash or credit card.

Up Haleakala Once

My home town of Davis is flat in every direction for more than 25 miles. I haven't seen anything that looks remotely like a hill since completing the Eastern Sierra Double back in June. So, why attempt a climb like Haleakala? Mainly because I don't know if I will ever be back in Maui again and I didn't want to pass up the chance to ride it.

I drove to Paia arriving there a half-hour before the bike store opened. This was my view of Haleakala from the car at about 7am on the way from Lahaina to Paia. Look at how clear it is! It doesn't stay that way.

View of Halakala from the car on the drive over to the start.

For comparison to a local climb, here is a picture with Mt. Diablo inset in approximate relative scale.

Approximate relative scale to Mt. Diablo

First problem upon arriving in Paia: where to park? The main (and only) street in Paia has only two-hour parking. The bike rental store had no space to park either. I drove a few blocks up Baldwin road and found an empty gravel lot that was labeled for public parking.

I would have liked to get started pedaling by 6am. However, the store I rented from, Maui Cyclery, didn't open until 8AM. So, I decided to start the climb as soon as possible after the store opened and hopefully be back to return the bike by the time the store closed at 4pm. Apparently, many of their customers attempt that but don't actually make it.

It's not a very good sign when the rental shop doesn't even have printed route sheets and instead walks you through the route verbally while pointing to a tiny map pinned to the wall. "Oh, by the way, if you miss this turn, you ride 5 miles and climb 1,500 feet to a dead end." Or, when you return the bike and tell them you think the bottom-bracket is failing and they respond "I thought Joe had fixed that." I plan to do a follow-up blog about rental bikes. Needless to say, I had some technical difficulties with the bike! But, I did bring my own pedals, shoes and saddle.

I reserved a 59cm Lightspeed carbon frame with 105 components and a compact double with a 12-30 cassette. It's my first time riding a compact double and only my second time riding carbon. They put on my pedals and saddle. Because time was precious, I test road it only a minute or two and made some adjustments, mainly to seat height. They included a tool bag with tube, tire irons and CO2 cartridges. Because I rarely use CO2 and find it unreliable, I would have preferred a pump. I had to ask them to please include a multi-tool so I could make adjustments en-route if necessary. Good thing I did too. More on that later.

Two other riders came in just behind me for the same reason; to climb Haleakala. As they got fitted out, I gathered my gear, filled two bottles with water and started up. It is hot in Maui reaching temps of 90 degrees at sea level. But, its also very humid too, a bad mix. Worse, the sun is intense and I burn easily. So, I not only had on sunscreen, I also wore sun protective garments such as you see me wearing here.

These extra layers make me sweat even more. I was very concerned about proper hydration, electrolytes and cramping. I planned to take one electrolyte capsule every half hour. The sweat was dripping off me the first few thousand feet of climbing. Fortunately, as you climb, the temperatures drop to something more comfortable.

I was drinking constantly. But, I was a little concerned how easily my water bottles slid into the cages. The cages didn't really hold on to the bottles. The bottles just sort of rattled around inside the cages. That's fine for a 7 mph climb because your unlikely to hit a bump hard enough to bounce them out. But, not on a 35 mph descent. I had a bad feeling about those cages.

Not long after I started up, the bottom bracket on my rental bike started creaking. The cranks seemed to turn smoothly but with every turn there was a creaking sound. I figured if the bottom bracket failed entirely, I would just turn the bike around and coast back down to Paia. But, it was a thought that plagued me more as I got further into the climb. I would hate to do so much work and then have to abandon.

Next, about 9 miles into the climb, something happened to my seat mount. The saddle went from being perfectly secure to flopping up and down 20-30 degrees. At first, I thought something had broke. But, I didn't hear any metal parts fall to the ground. Nonetheless, I went looking down the road behind me for parts that may have come off. I didn't find any.

It was a two-bolt seat mount with bolts fore and aft that offer ultra-fine adjustment of seat angle. Ok, so now you see why I asked to have them include a multi-tool in the tool bag. I used the tool to tighten the aft bolt but it did little to tighten the seat. It was still flopping up and down. The front bolt needed tightening. However, the multi-tool they included in the tool bag (similar to the one pictured below)

couldn't reach the front bolt. I mean, if you succeeded in actually getting the hex key into the bolt, you could not turn the tool more then about 1/5th of a turn without it hitting the seat post and preventing further turning.

It was then that the two riders I met in the shop caught up to me. However, only one of the two had a tool bag and the shop didn't include any tools in it. The other rider without a tool bag would later turn around at mile 32, around 9000 feet, and ride back alone with no way even to repair a flat if he had one.

I tried to flag down one of the many vans supporting downhillers. These are novice riders who were bused to the top and then coast down on single speed cruisers; an adventure Sandy and I would do the following day. There were hundreds of these riders passing me on the downhill side. But, none of the vans supporting them would stop to render me any assistance. That was really frustrating! After about 20 minutes of 1/5th turns of the fore saddle bolt, I was able to get the saddle secure and continue riding.

I stopped at Kula Market Place about 12 miles and 3,500 feet into the ride to re-fill my bottles and eat some food. Some locals asked me how my ride was going. They thought I was headed down. When I told them I was on my way up, they got very wide eyed! "To the top?" they said, somewhat alarmed. "That's the plan. We'll see if my legs (and bike) can hold out." I said. They wished me well and reminded me to be careful on the road.

Before leaving Kula Market, I adjusted my seat height again. Because I am not familiar with carbon frames, I am unsure how far to tighten a seat post bolt. Too far can irreparably damage the seat post or seat tube. But, too loose and the seat won't maintain the desired height. For fear of breaking things, I think I was going too loose. So, the seat would slowly fall. I would wind up stopping several more times to adjust it again and again. Although I could have seen this as a major nuisance, it actually gave me a great excuse to stop and rest a bit too.

At the 4,000 foot sign.

The park entrance is at about 7,000 feet and 24 miles into the climb. One of the two riders, the one without any tool bag, was there resting. His riding buddy had continued on without him. So, now, he joined up with me. About a mile beyond the park entrance is the lower visitor's center where you can refill bottles and use the restrooms. If the visitor's center is open, you can also buy some small snacks too. I stopped there for about 10 minutes and gave Sandy a call to let her know how things were progressing. She was taking an all-day bus tour on the Hana Highway. I ate a Power bar and a Stinger wafer I was carrying. The other rider who briefly joined me decided to continue on instead of rest. But, not long after he left, he passed me going the other way, descending, deciding his legs had had enough for the day.

Once you pass into the park, the gradient reduces somewhat to something more like 3-5%. Well, that's true up to the last quarter mile. In the last quarter mile the gradient pitches up to 8-10% for a couple of 50-100 meter sections. That's brutal at that elevation with about 36 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing already in your legs.

Once you are in the park, there is really no shoulder at all and no guard rails. And, the drop off the side of the road is steep and jagged with volcanic rock.

And, at the 8,000 foot sign

By this point, my legs don't feel great. I mean, I feel fine but my legs are just sluggish. They are sore. I can still turn the cranks ok but its like I don't really want to anymore. I am frequently changing gears and standing to vary my cadence. My technique is off. My back is hunched and my breathing is not deep and relaxed. My heart rate is ok though; mid-150's. I stop several times to rest too and eat some more and adjust my seat height. Occasionally I wonder if I really have what it takes to get up this beast of a climb. I mentally start dividing the mileage and elevation remaining into manageable pieces. "At the park entrance, there are 12 miles and 3,000 feet left," I think. I divide that into two pieces. "6 miles and 1,500 feet to mile 30. I will rest there for a few minutes," I say to myself.

But, I wind up having to rest at mile 28 for a few minutes. I click back in and push past mile 30. I am staying in the lowest possible gear at this point. My cadence is decent, 60+, but I don't feel confident in my legs. I shift two gears to stand for a while. That feels better...for a while...until it doesn't anymore. I slump back down into the saddle. There are "mile markers" all along the road. Where I turned onto 378, a sign said "22 miles" to the summit. I just pass "MM18". That means 4 more miles to go. Not long after, some structures and the observatory come into view. I can see the summit now. The weather really couldn't be any nicer. Its full sun and the temperatures have to be in the mid-50's and the wind is light. The time is around 1:30PM. I stay in my lowest gear and just spin. I don't feel like I have much in the way of power but I also start to feel like I have enough to finish it.

I see the small shack at the very top and people walking around it. There are less than two miles and less than 1,000 feet to go. I reach the upper visitor's center at 9,700 feet. There is a big parking lot and I pull off to rest for the final push to the very top. My heart sinks a bit when I look at the road ahead. It's steeper than anything else I've seen up to now. I contemplate calling it "good enough" and turning around. After a few minutes rest though, I decide to push for the last quarter mile and few hundred feet.

As I hit the first of two 8-9%+ sections, my heart rate climbs, fast! I don't feel very good. I am wondering if I am pushing myself too hard at this elevation. This is the highest I have ever pedaled a bike. But, It's too steep to safely click out with cars coming up from behind and going down. I take a deep breath and try to relax and just keep the cranks turning. I make it over the first steep section and round a bend to see the upper parking lot. The end of the road is in sight! One more somewhat less steep section of maybe 100 meters lies ahead. I push over it more easily than the first. I pass the 10,000 foot sign and loop around the parking lot. I made it. I'm done. 6 hours! God that was long and hard!

Down Haleakala Once

I did not spend much time at the top. I took some pictures to prove I was there. Some motorists passed by and stopped either to congratulate me or inquire as to my sanity. Others just passed shaking their heads. One stopped and offered me a Coke. I took it. I wished it was cold though.

I put on some layers for the descent and started down. Now, you would think that with all the problems I had with the bike, I might have taken some extra time to inspect wheels and brakes before I started down. Nope. In retrospect, given my experiences the next day with our coaster descent group, failing to carefully inspect the bike myself before descending was just plain stupid! I was a little lucky I didn't have any major problems on the descent.

While descending I am reminded of another minor issue I had with my bike. I am accustomed to and prefer to ride with a rear view mirror so I can see traffic approaching me from behind without having to turn my head. That's especially important during the descent phase where speeds are higher and you really don't want to take your eyes off the road. However, my rental bike was not equipped with one. I supposed if I had thought to ask for one, they may have provided it. I don't know.

It was easy to keep up with car traffic on the way down. My descent speed was 25-35 mph almost the whole way down. It still took close the two hours to descend all the way back to Paia. The one problem I did have though was hitting cattle guards at 30+ mph with my loose water bottle cages. One of my brand new bottles popped out. Fortunately, I noticed it immediately and turned around and found it on the side of the road. When I got back down to about 2,000 feet elevation, I had to remove all the extra layers I had put on. It was just uncomfortably hot. In fact, I removed every layer except my jersey stuffing everything into the available pockets.

Another serious problem with the descent is that the views are just spectacular! They are a huge distraction and you can wind up wanting to take your eyes off the road for longer than you should at 35+ mph.

Otherwise, except for the cattle guards, the descent was uneventful. I arrived back down in the Paia parking lot where I had parked my car at 4:15PM. I called the bike shop from there to see if they were still there for me to return the bike. They were!

So, I threw the bike in the back of the car and drove to the shop to return it. I explained all the problems I had, including the creaking bottom bracket. "I thought Joe (or whoever) fixed that," they said. So, they rented me a bike they knew they were having problems with and didn't bother to mention to me to keep an eye out for it. They said they "felt bad" for all the troubles I had with the bike and there was talk of offering me a discount. Nope! They charged me full price. I didn't complain.

But, I just would not ever recommend using this bike shop to anyone else. I've heard good things about West Maui Cycling. Because we were staying on the west side of the island, that would have been a better choice anyways as I wouldn't have had to worry about getting the bike back the same day to avoid two trips to the shop. And, I would have had more time to test the bike out and adjust it before taking it on such a challenging ride.

Down Haleakala Twice

The next evening, Sandy and I got up at 1am to meet a 2am bus to take us to the top of Haleakala to watch the sunrise. This is a popular activity for tourists and locals alike. The cheesy touristy version includes a ride back down on a coaster cruiser bike. That's what I had planned for Sandy and me. We got to bed around 8PM that evening and so actually got about 5 hours sleep before waking up to meet the bus.

We watched the sunrise at the upper visitor's center. There were a lot of people there doing the same thing.

We were at 9,740 feet elevation. That is the highest elevation Sandy has walked around at. We did go over Tioga pass at 9,943 but we never got out of the car and walked around.

The sunrise was incredible. We even saw the tiny dot of light of the international space station pass overhead. But, it was a bit of a cloudy morning to the east too. So, the sunrise wasn't as spectacular as it can be. No mind. It was truly amazing. Then, the second half of our adventure was to start; a bike ride down Haleakala.

The way the activity was described on the Costco Travel website, I had envisioned that after the sunrise, we'd get on bikes at the top and just coast all the way down to the bottom. Not so. They don't allow commercial cycling companies inside Haleakala Park anymore due to some bad accidents. So, after watching the sunrise, we got bused down from 9,740 feet elevation to just outside the park entrance at 6,500 feet elevation; fully 1/3rd of the total ride. I wanted Sandy to experience the whole descent, top to bottom. Strangely, she was ok with doing only a portion of it.

We got out of the bus on the side of the road and were assigned moto-cross helmets and single speed cruiser bikes with hand operated drum brakes front and back. The drum brakes make a lot of sense. They are much more reliable and longer lasting than rim brakes. Our guides introduced themselves and then had each person in our group say their name and how long its been since they last rode a bike.

Two members in our party said they hadn't ridden a bike in more than 20 years. That was a concern to both Sandy and me. This couple was celebrating their 30th anniversary. So, they were a bit older than Sandy and me. After spending a couple of hours at near 40 temps at the top, everyone was a bit cool too.

Our guides explained that for the most part we should just brake with our right hand (rear brake) and only use the front brake for added braking power if necessary. This made me wonder why there wasn't a braking system for a bike that actuates both front and rear brakes from a single grip alleviating novice operators from having to guesstimate how much braking force they are applying with front and rear separately. 

I wanted to ride just behind Sandy. But, the guides have a different way of doing business. They put all the women ahead of all the men in reverse order of size/weight. One guide descends ahead of the group on a bike while the other is driving a van at the back. They expect us to maintain our order of position with about 30 feet spacing all the way down. I understand their reasoning. With the heaviest at the back, they have better control over speed of descent.

They have each of us do a short, 100 meter test coast to prove we can ride a bike and bring it to a stop safely. Sandy's test ride went fine. Then, we start our descent. I am second from the back. The rider just ahead is the man who is celebrating his 30th anniversary and hasn't been on a bike in more than 20 years. We're doing between 15-25 mph. For the first few minutes I am keeping my eye on Sandy several riders ahead of me. She looks rock solid. But, I notice the guy just ahead of me has a minor front wheel wobble every now and then. It never enters my conscious attention enough to say anything to him.

After another minute or two go by, I take notice of his wheel wobble again. It seems a bit worse than before. All of the sudden, in the space of 3-5 seconds, it goes from being minor to downright dangerous. "Brake! Brake! I yell out." But, I don't think he hears me. He crosses over the double yellow line into the opposing lane. Fortunately, there is no car traffic from either direction. The wobble worsens. It is out of control. At the last moment, just before he goes off the left edge of the road into a wall of sharp volcanic rock, he is thrown from the bike onto his side on the pavement. It looked awful!

I pedal over to help him. Just as quickly as he falls, he stands back up. "Are you ok?", I ask. "Yeah, I am ok." He is in shock and probably embarrassed. I don't think he is thinking straight. What I saw looked terribly painful. I really want him to take a seat on the shoulder of the road. But, he's got a gash in his left elbow that's bleeding badly. I think I see bone. He will need stitches. And, he's got road rash on his side and leg.

In the few days following the ride, Sandy and I recount all the ways in which it could have been much, much worse. When he went over the double yellow, there could have been oncoming traffic. He could have gone completely off the road into the jagged volcanic rack instead of staying on the pavement. He could have gone off the outside edge of the road and down the steep sides.

I don't think there was any problem with his bike. It was cold. And, I believe he was shivering a bit on the descent. Having not ridden a bike in many, many years, I also believe he was probably gripping the handlebars very tightly. That combination of things is almost verbatim what the last paragraph in this post on Sheldon Brown's site regarding causes of front wheel shimmy describes.

Witnessing his fall shakes me up a bit. Our group stays on the side of the road for 20 minutes while he gets some first aid. A passing bus stops to take him and his wife down to the hospital. While waiting, I talk with Sandy and inspect her bike quickly. I ask if she has been feeling any wheel wobble. I suggest to her that if she does, she should immediately brake and slow to a stop.

Our group gets going again. But, we're all a little shaken up and descending very timidly. A large gap starts forming between Sandy and the first two riders and guide at the front. Sandy now takes tight turns very slowly. Eventually, the guide decides to put Sandy in remedial downhill and asks her to change position in line to right behind him.

We stop for a short breakfast at a lavender farm. It was gorgeous. The weather was just awesome. And, the breakfast sandwich was excellent. We all finish the descent safely down to about 3,000 feet. Then, we pull off to the side to get back in the van for the ride back to the hotel.

Sandy enjoyed her experience descending Haleakala. But, we both decided it wasn't worth what we paid for it and we probably would have enjoyed it just as much and been just as safe if we had planned it all ourselves.